Hose coupling



Patented July 20, 1943 UNITED This invention relates to improvements inhose couplings, and the invention has reference,

quick acting hose-coupling for general use, but one especially welladapted for couplin hose sechot asphalt or other bituminous products.

hose-coupling structure comprising male and female members respectivelyprovided with cooperative conical bell and spigot joint portions whichobviate necessity for utilizing sealing gaskets; the spigot jointportion of the female member being disposed to project beyond thesurrounding elements of said female member which cooperatewith those ofthe male member in interlocking the male and female members togetherwhen joined, whereby, when the said members ar'eyseparated, saidinterlocking elements of the female member are protected accumulate andcake thereon to the impairment of their operation, unless subjected totime and labor consuming cleansing operations, which latter requirementis therefore avoided.

The invention has for another object to provide a novel construction ofinterlocking means for cooperatively securing the male and femalemembers of the coupling inoperative joined relation, comprising meansfor first loosely interenforcing home, one against the other, said belland spigot joint portions of said members, both in tightly set uprelation and securely held against loosening or separation. l

, The invention has for another object to provide the coupling structurewith self-contained means for manipulating the same forsettlng up andsecuring lthe -members thereof in tightly joined relation; said meansincluding auxiliary or away. i i

The inventionlias for a further object to prornale member of thecoupling structure, when the same is separated from the female member.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will. be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

, An illustrative embodiment i shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhichl Fig. l is a side elevation of the male member oft'he couplingstructure according, to this invention, and Fig. 2 is a side elevationof the female member thereof. I Fig. 3 is an elevational view of thecoupling end more particularly, to a novel construction of tions used toconvey viscous fluids, such, e. g., as

vide auxiliary means forcapping and closing the c nosacouruuc WilliamMeyer, East Orange, -N. J., assignor to A. W. Wheaten Brass Works,Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 21, 1942,Serial No; 439,841

6 Claims. (01. 285-127) The invention has for an object to provide aagainst contact by any draining viscous fluid which might otherwise flowonto thesame soas to OFFICE.

of ,the male member, viewed in the direction of the arrowX in Fig. l,and Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the coupling end of the femalemember of the coupling structure, viewed in the direction of the arrowYin Fig. 2. c

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the male and female membersof the coupling structure as initially coupled prior to being tightlyclosed and secured together, and Fig. 6 is a similar view showing saidmembers as finally tightl closed and secured together Fig. 7 isatransverse sectional view, taken on line 1 in Fig. 6. f

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the male member of thecoupling structure, detached from the female member thereof, and cappedby the applied auxiliary closure mean provided therefor: and Fig. 9 isan end elevation of the same,viewed from. left to right in Fig. 8.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above describedviews, to indicate corresponding parts. r

The coupling structure according to this invention comprises a malemember Hi and a female member I I. H

The male member Ill comprises a cylindrical tubular body, internallyscrew threaded at its rearward end portion, as at l2, whereby toregaging the male and female members and then.

reserve means for the same purpose useful in the event the primary meansis accidentally broken of this invention ceive engagement of a standardnipple (not shown) for connecting a hose section thereto. At its forwardend, said male member III is provided with circumferentially spaced,laterally projecting interlock lugs l3.

vided. Formed interiorly within the forward end portion of said malemember Ill is a conical bell joint portion [4. I

The female member ll comprises a cylindrical tubular body, internallyscrew-threaded at its rearward end portion, as at l5, whereby to receiveengagement of a standard nipple (not shown) for connecting a hosesection thereto. At its forward end, said female member I l is providedwith a forwardly projecting conical spigot joint portion 1 6, sized tofit closely into the conical bell joint portion ll of the male member,when said male and female members are operatively coupled together.Rearwardly of said spigot joint member l6, the female member I! isprovided with an external annular keeper flange or shoulder ll.Rotatively mounted on the female member II is an annular locking collar,l8 which is open at its forward side or end. At its rearward side orend, said locking collar l8 isprovided with a bearing neck portion IQ ofreduced diameter, the same being connected to said locking collar I8 byan inwardly offsetting As illustratively' shown, there are two such lugsI3, diametrically shoulder portion 20. Said bearing neck portion I8 ijournaled upon the female member II behind the keeper flange or shoulderI1 of thelatl the latter, so that the free end of said spigotjointportion I6 projects through and well beyond the open forward side or endof said locking collar, for purposes later herein to be set forth.Threaded into said internally screw-threaded portion of said lockingcollar I8 is a locking ring 22, This locking ring 22 is provided, at itsrearward side, with a continuous inwardly projecting annular stop flange23, and at its forward side with circumferentially spaced, inwardlyprojecting interlock lugs 24, corresponding in number to the heretoforedescribed interlock lug 13 of the male member It). Said interlock lugs24 are forwardly spaced from the stop flange 23 to provide an annularreceiving charmel 25 within the lockin ring 22, for reception of themale member interlock lugs I3, when the male and female member areoperatively connected to gether. Bridging said receiving channel 25 atcertain ends of the interlock lugs 24 are stop elements 26. Said lockingring 22 is-disposed forwardly of the keeper flange or shoulder l1,against which it may be stopped to prevent rearward displacement orseparation of the loclfing collar I8 from its assembled relation to thefemale member I I. In normal initial position, the

locking ring 22 is moved and lies toward the outer open end of saidlocking collar I8.

When coupling themale and female members IIII I together, the malemember ID is turned to oppose its interlock lugs I3 to the spacesbetween the interlock lugs 24 of the locking ring 22 of the femalemember, whereupon the male member is moved axially toward the femalemember, so

- against the stop elements 26 with which the latter is provided.

When the preliminary coupling operations above described are completed,the spigot joint portion I6 of the female member I I will be looselyentered in the bell joint portion I4 of the male member I (see Fig. 5).To force the thus initially engaged bell and spigot joint portionsI6'-l4 together in tightly set up or joint closing relation, the lockingcollar I8 is turned on and about the female member II in a directionoperative to cause its internal screw-threads 2I to thrust inwardly uponthe locking ring 22, whereby to move the same axially inward; saidlocking ring 22 being, under such action, stopped against rotation byreason of the abutment of its stop elements 26 against ends of the malemember interlock lugs I3 (see Fig. '1). ward bodily movement thusimparted to the lock- 5 ing ring 22 causes its interlock lugs 24 tothrust inwardly against the interlock lugs I3 of the male member ID,thereby moving inwardly the latter so as to tightly set up the belljoint portion I4 in joint closing relation to the spigot joint portionI6 of the female member II (see Fig. 6). When the bell and spigot jointportions I4I8 are thus tightly engaged and set up, the inward movementof the locking ring 22 will be arrested, and consequently by turning thelocking collar I8 forcibly and tightly home on the stationary lockingring 22, a jamb-nut effect is obtained which is adequate to securelyhold the locking collar I8 against accidental backing off, so that theoperatively joined male and female members are; consequently likewisejsecurely retained against accidental loosening or separation.

Self-contained means are provided for rotatively manipulating thelocking collar I8, the same comprising a radial hand lever 21, thebifurcate inner end 28 of which is pivotally connected to a hingingknuckle 28 which projects from the external periphery of said lockingcollar l8. Preferably the bifurcate hinged end portion of the hand lever21 is provided with a transverse stop portion 30 on its outer side,whereby to limit the outward swing of said hand lever 21 to operativeradially extending position v(shown by solid lines in Fig. 6). It willbe noted, that, owing to its hinged connection with the locking collarI8, said hand lever 21 may be swung down parallel to the female member II when not in use (see dotted line representation thereof in Fig. 6),

thus permitting the hose section which is,

equipped with the female coupling member to be inserted in'a housingtube when not in use.

It may possibly occur, incident to rough handling of the coupling in thefield, that the locking collar manipulating hand lever 21 is broken off.To permit use of the hand lever, even should this occur, auxiliary meansare provided for operatively engaging the same with the locking collarI8 in a manner to permit application thereby of turning force to thelatter. To this end a female socket lug 8| is provided to extend fromanother part of the periphery of the locking collar I8, and the free endportion of the hand lever 21 is provided with a male plug or crosshead32 It will be understood that to uncouple the operatively joined maleand female members, the locking collar I8 is reversely, turned on thefemale member, whereby its threaded connection with the locking ring 22'will back out the latter, thus relaxing the inward thrust of itsinterlock lugs 24 upon the interlock lugs I3 ofv The in- I viscous fluidthrough the former is carried by the outwardly projecting free end ofthe spigot joint portion I6 beyond and away from any possible entranceinto the interior of the locking collar and locking ring. The latterparts are therefore adequately protected against becoming jammed orobstructed by accumulation and caking therein of the fluid servedthrough the coupling.

It is desirable to protect the interior of the male member and its belljoint portion I4, when disengaged from the female member ll, againstentrance thereinto of foreign substances, and against injury to itsexternally projecting interlock lugs I3. To this end, a detachablecapping or closure means is provided in a form adapted to cooperate withthe interlock lugs l3 for securing the same in attached, closingrelation to said male member In. Said capping or closure means comprisesa closure plate or disc 33 having a screw-threaded periphery 34, andprovided on its exterior face with suitable hand grip means 35. Alocking ring 36 is provided, the same having a rearwardly open end whichis internally screwthreaded to screw onto the screw-threaded peripheryof said closure plate or disc 33; At its forward end said locking ring36 is provided with circumferentially spaced, inwardly projectinginterlock lugs 31, corresponding in number to that of the interlock lugsl3 of the male member. Carried on the inner face of said closure plateor disc 33, if desired, is a sealing gasket 38 engageable by theextremity of the male'member It).

To attach the capping or closure means to the male member H), the spacesbetween the interlock lugs 31 of the locking ring 36 are opposed to theinterlock lugs [3 of the male member,

whereby the latter may enter the locking ring 36 to lie in a planebehind its interlock lugs 31, whereupon to be turned until stopped bystop elements 39 and lodged back of the latter. When the parts are thusinitially assembled and engaged, the closure plate or disc 33 is turnedin a direction operative to cause its screw-threaded periphery 34 tomove the locking ring 36 so that the interlock lugs 31 will thrustinwardly upon the interlock lugs l3 of the male member, thereby forcingthe extremity of the latter tightly home against the closure plate ordisc and its gasket 38. A reversal of these operations will loosen thecapping or closure means for removal form the male member.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A hose coupling or the like comprising a female member having aspigot joint portion, a forwardly open locking collar rotatable on saidfemale member, a locking ring within said looking collar having ascrew-threaded connection therewith, said locking ring havingcircumferentially spaced internal interlock lugs, said spigot Jointportion being disposed to extend forwardly through and outwardly beyondsaid locking collar and its contained locking ring, a male member havinga bell joint portion to receive the spigot joint portion of said femalemember, and

said male member having circumferentially spaced external interlock lugsadapted to be entered in said locking ring and disposed behind theinternal interlock lugs thereof, rotation ofsaid locking collar in agiven direction being adapted to move said locking ring axially tothereby thrustingly engage its interlock lugs with those of the malemember and thus forcibly move said male and female members together tosetup their engaged bell and spigot joint portions in tight jointforming relation.

2. A hose coupling as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking collar isprovided with a foldable hand lever hingedly connected therewith andmovable to a radially projected operative position relative to saidlocking collar.

3. A hose coupling as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking collar isprovided with a foldable hand lever hingedly connected therewith andmovable to a radially projected operative position relative to saidlocking collar, said hand lever having a suitably shaped male plug atits free end, and said locking collar being further provided with acoupling socket means conformable to and adapted to receive said maleplug, whereby to operatively couple the hand lever to said lookingcollar should the former he accidentally broken away from its normalhinged connection with the latter.

4. A hose coupling or the like comprising a female member having aspigot joint portion, a forwardly open locking collar rotatable on saidfemale member, a locking ring within said locking collar having ascrew-threaded connection therewith, said locking ring having aninternal annular stop flange at its rearward side, said locking ringalso having circumferentially spaced internal interlock lugs at itsforward side and spaced from said stop flange, said spigot joint portionbeing disposed to extend forwardly through and outwardly beyond saidlocking collar and its contained locking ring, a male member having 'abell joint portion to receive the spigot joint portion of said femalmember, said male member having circumferentially spaced externalinterlock lugs adapted to be entered in said locking ring until stoppedby the stop flange thereof and then turned for disposition behind theinternal interlock lugs of said locking ring, rotation of said lockingcollar-in a given direction being adapted to move said locking ringaxially to thereby thrustingly engage its interlock lugs with those ofthe male member and thus forcibly move said male and female memberstogether to set up their engaged bell and spigot joint portions in tightjoint forming relation, and said locking ring having transverse stopelements intermediate given ends' of its interlock lugs and its stopflange to engage ends of the male member interlock lugs whereby toprevent rotation of said locking ring relative to said male member underthe forcing thrust of the rotated locking collar.

5. A hose coupling as defined in claim 4 wherein said locking collar isprovided with a foldable hand lever hingedly connected therewith andmovable to a radially projected operative position relative to saidlocking collar.

6. A hose coupling as defined in claim 4 wherein said locking collar isprovided with a foldable hand lever hingedly connected therewith andmovable to a radially projected operative position relative to saidlocking collar, said hand lever having a suitably shaped male plug atits free-

